Kollam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge George Mathew has found “techie thief” Antony Varghese alias “Aadu” Antony guilty of murdering the civil police officer, Maniyan Pillai.
The judge, who delivered the verdict on Wednesday, said he would pronounce the sentence for Antony on Friday. Antony was also found guilty of attempting to murder assistant sub inspector K. Joy, in the same case
Special Prosecutor for the case G. Mohanraj said that the judge found Antony guilty on five counts under the Indian Penal code (IPC). Apart from Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, he was also found guilty under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 333 (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 47 (Using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC.
Antony is the lone accused in the case. The crime related to the case that took place at about 1 a.m. on June 26, 2012, while Pillai and Mr. Joy were on night patrol duty in an area coming under the jurisdiction of the Paripally police station in Kollam . They noticed a van parked by the roadside with a man at the wheel.
Mr. Joy questioned the man and when his replies aroused suspicion, the officers inspected the van to find a bag of tools and a pair of gloves. Mr. Joy then took the man into custody. As Antony walked to the jeep he whipped out a knife and stabbed Pillai in the chest. He then stabbed Mr. Joy’s abdomen with the same knife and fled from the scene in his van.
